Ironing board



mpv-mf March 5, 1957 H. E. SMITH 2,783,562

IRONING BOARD Filed Nov. 25, '1955 2 sheets-sheet 1 W Pf6. a

4 T TOE/VE' YS vMarch 5, 1957 H, E, sMn-H 2,783,562

IRONING BOARD Filed Nov. 25, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. /L//eA/V/ E. .SM/ 774,

/z BY United States Patent() IRONING BOARD Hiram E. Smith, Glenview, Ill. Application November 25, 1955, Serial No. 548,997

3 Claims. (Cl. 38-135) This invention relates to ironing boards, and more particularly has reference to an ironing board having a main or body portion, to which a plurality of extensions are hinged, with said extensions being selectively swingable to produce various combinations or types of ironing boards in a single unit.

Heretofore, the general practice has been to provide an ironing board in which the surface on which the garments being ironed are supported is of unchanging length and width. As a result, when it is desired to use a sleeve board, it has been necessary that a separate unit, having a small body portion over which a shirt sleeve or the like can be positioned, be used. This is usually kept separately from the conventional ironing board, and is sometimes placed upon the ironing board when sleeves are to be ironed.

This represents a somewhat inconvenient arrangement. The sleeve board must be so disposed as to be readily accessible, and during a single period of ironing, it may be necessary that the sleeve board be placed on and removed from the ironing board proper a number of times.

In view of the above, it is proposed to provide an ironing board which has a hinged extension that can be swung upwardly to a position in which it is folded over the body portion of the ironing board, to expose below the ironing board a sleeve board, conveniently disposed for use. The sleeve board and the ironing board proper, thus, are in accordance with the present invention a self-contained unit foldable in the same manner as a conventional ironing board, and occupying when not in use no more space than that required by a conventional board.

Another object of importance is to provide a device of the nature referred to wherein a plurality of sleeve boards can be incorporated in a single ironing board structure, with said sleeve boards being of different sizes, so asv to be capable of being selectively employed, according to the needs of the particular situation.

Still another object is to provide a combination iron'- ing board as described which can be mounted on any of various conventional foldable stands without requiring modification or redesign of said stands.

Still another object is to provide a hinge or folding ironing board assembly so designed that whichever surface is being ironed upon will still be maintained wholly rigid.

Still another object is to provide an ironing board of the type stated that will be capablev of manufacture with little or no increase in cost above that presently required to manufacture a conventional ironing board and a set of sleeve boards to be used in association therewith.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ironing board formed according to the present invention, as it appears when erected, ready for use;

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Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the extension of the ironing board folded back for exposing the upper one of a pair of sleeve boards of different sizes;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 in which the upper sleeve board has been vfolded back to expose the smaller sleeve board; and

Figure 6 is a greatly enlarged, detail sectional view of the hinge connection between the several boards, on line 6 6 of Figure l.

A conventional stand 10 (any of various conventional stands may be used with the invention) is shown supporting an ironing board including a lower sleeve board 12, a main ironing board portion 14, an upper sleeve board 16, and an extension 18 of the portion 14.

Lower sleeve board 12 extends substantially the full length of the ironing board structure, and is formed from a single length of wood, metal, or the like, having a body part 29. Connected pivotally at their upper ends to the main part 20 are the rear legs 22 and `front legs 24 of stand 10, suitably braced as at 26, 28.

The elongated flat, wide body part 20 tapers atone end to merge into an elongated, slightly tapering, lower sleeve board member 30 suitably covered and padded, and lying in a plane common to that of body part 20.

The main ironing board portion 14 comprises a wide, generally rectangular member 32 wider than body part 2l) and supported thereon in face-to-face contact therewith. This is also suitably padded and covered, and is fixedly secured to the body part 2t). Substantially at the inner end of member 30, the member 32 terminates and is formed with a transverse, right-angular recess 34 defining a forwardly projecting transverse tongue 36 thereon. In the opposite ends of the recess, hinge plates 38 are secured by screws 40.

The upper sleeve board 16 comprises a gradually taper ing, suitably padded and covered member 42 wider at its base than member 30 and terminating at its free end slightly inwardly from the free end of member 30. Thus, when a wide, thick sleeve board is needed the members 30, 42 cooperate to provide the same, as shown in Figure 4. When a thinner, narrower sleeve board is desired,A

about an axis extending transversely of main portion 14- and disposed substantially in the plane of the top surface of portion 14. In its use position, member 42 lies in a plane offset downwardly from and paralleling that of said top surface, with the reduced extension 44 defining side shoulders 4S engaged by tongue 36 (see Figures 4 and 6) to limit the downward swinging movement of the member 42.

The extension 18 of the main portion 14 includes an extension member 50 in the upper surface of which are recessed hinge plates 52 (Figures l and 6) having hinge sleeves through which extend hinge pins 54. These pass through double hinge sleeves 56 alternating with the hinge sleeves of the plates 38, 52 and receiving also the hinge pin 46. The hinge pin 46 extends in closely spaced,y

parallel relation to the coaxial hinge pins 54.

In its use position, the extension member is coplanar with the main member 32, and is supported at its inner end on tongue 36 (see Figure 6) above and parallel to the members 42, 30.

"To interlock the members S0, 42 against relative swinging movement when member S0 vis in its use position, ex tension 44 of member 42 has a recess or indentation 58 (Figure 4) Yinto which extends a projection 60 on Ythe inner end of member l50. 'The proiection mai/[further be appropriately said to ser-ve as an abutmentreleving strain on the hinge connections when pressure isjexerted on the member 50- during the ironing of articles thereon,

and Vfurther maybe rubber covered orf-otherwise resiliently faced .toprovide a cushioned stop when member 50 is swung 'from its Figure 4 to its Figure l positions.

To .the underside of the free end portionof member 50there`is secured a block `6Z which provides a spacer (see Figure 2) between the "lower sleevelboard 12 .and the-main boardportion Vextension L18, 'further relieving strain=onthehinge connection so that'the extension .18 when in use is supported atboth ends. The block is recessed at 63 .to receive thefree end .of the upper rsleeve board I6, and pivoted on 'the block is alockinghandle O r'keeper 64 which is swingable under thelower sleeve boardlZ V(Figure 2) for locking the uppersleeve .board 16 and the extension 18 againstv swinging movement out of. their .extended positions.

In use, the ironing board is .usedin a .conventional manner with the several .components thereof disposed as inFigure l. Ii' a Wide sleeve board isdesired, the extension 18.ismerely swung .over onto the main portion 14 asmin Figure 4. If a narrower, thinner sleeve board is desired, the upper sleeve board `16 is now swung over onto the extension 18 as in Figure S. Thus, ina single ironinglboard structure, there are provided a main ironing boardrnemben and two diierent sleeve boards, any of -which .can be disposed for use merely bly a swift, easy swingingadjustmentof selected components of the structure. .Atlthe same time, the overall size of the structure, both in .its extended and collapsed conditions, is 'little orY no greater thanthat of a conventional `ironing board, and there is 'far less storage space required than that needed for storing a yconventional.ironing board plus a conventional single or double sleeve board. These desirable characteristics are obtained it is believed, by the use of the novelly formed hinge arrangement, permitting the `swinging Iparts to lie flat on top of .one another whenlin their Figures 4 or 5 positions, While yet insuring the coplanar relationship of the main board portion V14 audits extension 18 when the ironing board is being used inthe regular manner.

Itis believed ,clear that the invention is `not necessarily confined tothe specitic use oruses` thereof described above,

Vsince it may beutilized :for any purpose to which it maybe suited. Nor yis the invention to be necessarily limited to the :specific construction illustrated and described, sinee such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently vdevised to carry out said principles, it vbeing considered that the invention comprehends any `minor changes inconstruction` that may be permitted within the scope offthe appended claims.

What istclaimed is l. -An ironing board .comprising a main ironingboard portiona sleeve board underlying said board portion vand having n `fixed connection to and projecting beyond one end of said portion; a main board portion extension hinged vto thernain portion to swingabetweena rst position in Iwhich it .overlies the main portion to .expose-the sleeve board for use, and -a second positionin which it overlies the sleeve 'board in coplanar relation with the mainportion'; and lock means releasably interengaging thersleeveboardand said extension with eachother in the second-position'of the extension, comprising a block secured to the underside of the extension and a keeper;

board, said block extending as a spacer between the sleeve board and extension at one end of the extension to support the extension on the sleeve board at said end thereof, the main portion including a tongue at the hinged end of said extension extending as a spacer between the sleeve board and extension at the other end of the extension to provide a supportfor said other end of the extension.

2. An ironingiboard .comprising amainironing board portion; Va sleeve board underlying said board portion and having'a fixed connection to and projectngbeyond lone end of said portionyamain boardportion extension hinged to the main portion to swing between a rst position in `which it overlies the main portion to expose the sleeve board for use, and a second position in which it overlies the sleeve board in coplanar relation with the mainportion; lock meansl'releasablylinterengaging `the sleeve board and said extension with each other in the -second position of lthe extension, comprising a'block secured to the undersideof the extension and a keeper pivoted on vthe block and engageable under the sleeve'board, said block extending as a spacer between the sleeve 'board and extensionsat one end of .the extension to support the .extension on the sleeve vboard at said Aend thereof, the mainportion including a tongue at the hinged end of said extension extendingas `a spacer between the sleeve board and extension at the .other end `of the extension to provide a ,support for saidotherend of theextension; and a second sleeveboard hinged Aatone vend to the main portion to `swing independently vof theextension and ,extending between the rst Ysleeveboard and said extension, said second sleeve board havingashoulder,adjacent said end thereof engagingsaid tongue in the :second position ofthe extension.

3. An ironing hoard comprising a main ironing board portion; a sleeve board underlying said .board portion and having a tixed connection to and projecting beyond one end of said portion; a mainboard portion 4extension hinged to the main portion to swing between a iirst position in which it overlies themain portion to expose the sleeve board for use, and a second position in which it overlies thesleeve board in coplanar relation with the main portion; lock means releasable interengaging the sleevelboard and said extension with each other in the secondposition .of the extension, comprising a blocksecured to the underside of the extension and a keeper pivoted .on the block and engageable under the sleeve boardLsaid block extending .as a lspacer between the sleeve 4board and extension at one end .of the extension tosupport theextension of 'the sleeve board `at said end thereof, the mainportion including a tongue at the hinged end of said extension extending as a spacer between the sleeve board andextension at A the other ,end .of the -extension toprovide a support for said other end of the extension; anda second sleeve boardhinged at one end to the main portion to swing independently of the exten sion and extending between the tirst sleeve board andsaid extension, saidsecondsleeve board havingashoulder'adjacent said end .thereof engaging said tongue `in ,the second position of the extension, the block being recessed to receive the other end of the second sleeve board.

References Cited in the Atile of thispatent UNITD STATES PATENTS 263,414 Lemon Aug. 29,1882 A529,481 Coleman ..Y Nov. 20,1894 901,950 Burgess a...... Oct. 27, 1908 

